One more meeting before summer vacation… Perhaps appropriately before taking a break, Guelph City Council will sit back to hear about the progress over goals they set near the beginning of this term. A team from City of Guelph senior staff, plus visitors from the local boards and shared services, will share our collective progress on achieving the directives of Future Guelph, aka: the City’s Strategic Plan!
NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting in-person or via tele-presense but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on Friday July 10. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.
NOTE #2: In addition to meeting in-person, this meeting will also be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.
Future Guelph Progress Report – By the numbers, 58 per cent of all strategic initiatives are on track, 22 per cent are considered at risk but have mitigation plans in place, and 19 per cent are off track. Among key performance indicators, 53 per cent met or exceeded their targets, six per cent were near target, 24 per cent fell below target, while the remainder are either still collecting baseline data or are monitored without formal targets.
As you may recall, the Strategic Plan is broken down into four themes:
Foundations – The City continued implementing its Indigenous Relations Framework, advanced corporate asset management maturity to 66 per cent on its path toward full maturity by 2030, maintained strong financial health, and continued to keep municipal taxes and utility costs within affordability targets.
City Building – Staff advanced all Housing Accelerator Fund commitments despite a difficult housing market, kept major community infrastructure projects on schedule, and continued implementing Transportation Master Plan projects, including protected cycling infrastructure and Official Plan updates.
Environment – The City maintained its ISO 50001 energy management certification, continued reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanded its electric vehicle fleet, exceeded interim fleet electrification targets, supported energy-efficiency retrofits through the Guelph Greener Homes program, and kept community water consumption below targets established in the Water Supply Master Plan.
People and Economy – Progress continued on the Downtown Infrastructure Renewal Program, including Wyndham Street reconstruction and St. George’s Square planning, while the City and County continued collaborative efforts to address homelessness, mental health, and substance use. This included opening 28 transitional housing beds at 65 Delhi Street and advancing new daytime drop-in services for vulnerable residents.
The report also notes that while overall implementation of the plan is going well, many initiatives classified as “at risk” or “off track” because they were rescheduled or rescoped during the 2025 and 2026 budget processes as the City faced growing affordability challenges. Staff indicate they will continue balancing fiscal constraints with delivery on the Strategic Plan’s priorities.
In addition to the City presentation, six of the seven share services will update city council about their own strategic initiatives: Downtown Guelph Business Association, The Elliott Community, Grand River Conservation Authority, Guelph Public Library, Guelph Police Services, and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. Wellington County’s social services department has provided a written report, but they will not be present at the meeting.
Guelph Politico 